My Very Shallow Reef Tank Re Do

[kevlow]

Originally Posted by reefmutt

Kevin, very cool tank! As per usual, I'm late to noticing this thread..
Your growth is very good and really nice pe.
I couldn't see the video.. There was just a plank space on the post where the video is.. Maybe it's just a glitch on my phone. I'll reload the thread and see if it comes back..
Anyways, things are looking really good in there!
What's your dose for koralcolor/tank volume?

Thank you for looking and taking time to respond.

Hopefully the video comes up. That piece is from Perry's frag rack. It is the first piece I have acquired that was not brown/tan and less then 1". It feels like I am cheating. It has already brought out more color since that video was taken.

My tank has about 65 gallons in it's system, maybe 70. 35 in the display and 30/35 in the sump. I am dosing 1ml of KC per day, split .5ml in morning and .5 in the afternoon.

I have been also using the Pro Bio S and NP Pro. 2 drops and 5ml, respectively.

Other then that, I have only added my daily 50ml alk and 30ml calcium daily.

I do 15G water changes weekly. I figure this helps with minor trace elements. I used to use the Trace Hard on the full Biggles juice program but discontinued this when my greens became to dominate.

I have been subscribed to your thread for quite a while and have read the entire thing , beginning to end. Thanks for all the posts and explanations. Your's is one of what I think of as a teaching thread.

[reefmutt]

Originally Posted by kevlow

A quick little video of the Rommels Watermelon with the return pump off. Usually when I get frags they are very small and very brown. It is always a surprise to see what they end up being. This is the best condition coral that I have ever started with. I do not believe that it will disappoint.

I'm trying to quote it.. See if that brings up the link.
I'm only using 2 ml of koralcolor in my 300 gallon- along with some micro E.. But I haven't really noticed a major difference in colors.. But maybe I'm just using enough..
Kevin, thanks for the kind words! And for actually wading brought the whole thread. It's a bit of a beast now..
How many fish are in your system?

[reefmutt]

Nope. That didn't work. Very odd. I can see the link in the post preview but when it's posted, I can't see it anymore.
Can anybody else see the link in my last post? It's just a big empty box for me..
Weird..

[kevlow]

Originally Posted by reefmutt

I'm trying to quote it.. See if that brings up the link.
I'm only using 2 ml of koralcolor in my 300 gallon- along with some micro E.. But I haven't really noticed a major difference in colors.. But maybe I'm just using enough..
Kevin, thanks for the kind words! And for actually wading brought the whole thread. It's a bit of a beast now..
How many fish are in your system?

Only seven at the moment. I would like to up that. 4 chromies, 2 clowns, and a Foxface.
Creating a bigger bio load seems to be working better then when I tried to keep a zero nutrient tank. I thought that only keeping one or two fish helped by having no waste. This year I began reading all the threads in the sps forum and have changed my thinking. Apparently fish are good for more then just for eating. [Who knew?]

[kevlow]

I will try again on the video.

[Lilmatty5dimes]

Awesome tank. Looks great.

[kevlow]

Originally Posted by Lilmatty5dimes

Awesome tank. Looks great.

Thank you for stopping by and looking, fellow Floridian.

[glaukos]

Cool tank and your corals look healthy,with great PE
Thanks for sharing the pics

[reefmutt]

[/QUOTE]

Ugg.. Sorry still trying to see the link..
Tried to copy and paste from a quote.
Bizarre.. Still got nothing.

[kevlow]

Originally Posted by glaukos

Cool tank and your corals look healthy,with great PE
Thanks for sharing the pics

Thank you, Mike. I not only enjoy you pics and comments, but I really like your signature line on enjoying the hobby but not needing the drama. Well stated, Sir.

[kevlow]

Feeding time with Larry's Reef Frenzy Nano. Fish and coral are happy.

[glaukos]

That's one happy coral man
Is it a red planet?

[kevlow]

Originally Posted by glaukos

That's one happy coral man
Is it a red planet?

That is one of Perry's corals, Rommels Watermelon. I got it in healthy shape and it has just taken off and begun coloring up nicely.

[glaukos]

So it's a perry's planet huh
I envy you so much bud!Really glad to see that in such a good shape.
Bet it won't take long for it to grow big

[kevlow]

Originally Posted by glaukos

So it's a perry's planet huh
I envy you so much bud!Really glad to see that in such a good shape.
Bet it won't take long for it to grow big

Mike, That name is very appropriate.
At an Orlando trade show a vendor wanted to sell a 1" frag of Red Planet for $120.00. He gave me an exotic name and said that this was there own house morph of Red Planet so it was very expensive. I said then that everyone's coral is their own morph as soon as they put it under their own lights.
I met Perry at that show and commented about the made up names and pricing. It was a good lesson and a good laugh. As soon as your new frag adapts to your own system it becomes your own "house morph" therefore much more valuable.

I think that this piece is now known as Perry's Planet. My own house morph of Rommels Watermelon. [With his permission, of course].

Yes, I do consider myself quite fortunate because I usually start with small brown or tan frags. This Perry's Planet and the Green Slimer are the best condition frags I have started off with. Look forward to seeing them growing into nice colonies.

[plyle02]

Originally Posted by kevlow

Mike, That name is very appropriate.
At an Orlando trade show a vendor wanted to sell a 1" frag of Red Planet for $120.00. He gave me an exotic name and said that this was there own house morph of Red Planet so it was very expensive. I said then that everyone's coral is their own morph as soon as they put it under their own lights.
I met Perry at that show and commented about the made up names and pricing. It was a good lesson and a good laugh. As soon as your new frag adapts to your own system it becomes your own "house morph" therefore much more valuable.

I think that this piece is now known as Perry's Planet. My own house morph of Rommels Watermelon. [With his permission, of course].

Yes, I do consider myself quite fortunate because I usually start with small brown or tan frags. This Perry's Planet and the Green Slimer are the best condition frags I have started off with. Look forward to seeing them growing into nice colonies.

LOL Thank you very much for the kind words Kevin Mike, over here it is referred to as Rommels Watermelon, but you know, so many corals, so many names, and so many morph's. I call it purdy, cause it sure looks pretty Cheers, tank is looking really good Kevin!

[reefmutt]

Well, I'll live on Perry's planet any day!

[Ricardo18]

Very nice set -up.I am interested in your nutrient (Nitrate and Phos) usage.It looks like it is working very well for you.
I think my tank is too clean and I will start feeding a little heavier.

[kevlow]

Originally Posted by Ricardo18

Very nice set -up.I am interested in your nutrient (Nitrate and Phos) usage.It looks like it is working very well for you.
I think my tank is too clean and I will start feeding a little heavier.

I think that too low nutrients was a problem. Everything colored up and started growing when I raised nitrates. At first I dosed liquid nitrate when my tests showed zero. I saw improvement. So then I started feeding heavier both fish and coral food and stopped dosing nitrates. Now i keep the bottle of Neo Nitrate ready in case I test really low and need a quick bump on nitrates.

Also, when my phosphate rose to .1 I dosed nitrate and it helped push the phosphate back down.

I would like to keep the tank at about 5 nitrates, 10 at the most. Phosphate at .03-.05 seems to be a happy place.

I did let nitrates get as high as 25 and it turned out to be detritus build up in the basket of matrix. Once I cleaned the media basket and used one filter sock, nitrates returned to normal. I will say that my colors were good and saturated while at 25.

Skimming, filter sock, weekly water changes, and daily detritus removal are my methods of export a the moment.

I have to ask about your photo with your name. I recognize the blue Radical, but what is the car on the left?

[shih87]

Coral looks super healthy. Very cool!!

[kevlow]

Originally Posted by shih87

Coral looks super healthy. Very cool!!

Thank you, Sir.

I only hope that one day my tank may look like yours!

[kevlow]

Last week I added two more fish [green/blue chromies] to the tank. I don't know if that is the reason for the increased growth this week or it is just coincidence. Maybe just everything starting to mature but several pieces have noticeably increased their growth rate. I have decreased the coral food but increased the fish food as well as adding the two more fish.
Possibly the added bio load was just enough to kick start things; or, maybe has nothing to do with it at all.

[Rakie]

Very nice progress. Another Biggles Juice success story.

[kevlow]

Originally Posted by Rakie

Very nice progress. Another Biggles Juice success story.

It has been very easy to do. The KC together with Lugols, matrix, and a bag of carbon.

I also dosed Pro Bio S to get the bacteria started.

[kevlow]

I decided to try AF Comp123 several weeks ago. I discontinued my ESV two part. Nothing was wrong, everything was fine. I thought I would see if there were possible trace elements that I was not getting with my Biggles Juice program of KC, Lugols, Matrix, and carbon.

I started off dosing 50ml just like my ESV. That has climbed all the way up to 180ml daily to maintain 7-7.3 dkh. Wow.

Things were growing ok before the switch but seemed to slow down the first week or so after the change. This last week or two growth has resumed. I guess I will just continue on for a while and see what happens.

The biggest change has been with nitrates. They went down when I cleaned out the Matrix basket. Now I am feeding frozen foods like mad, added two more fish[11 total now], continued flake and pellet, resumed oyster feast and powder food, and still at 1 nitrate and 0 phosphate. I don't know if this is related to the Comp123 or just Matrix efficiency. I am not building up much on the glass and no radical increase on the skimmer cup. I have even dosed liquid nitrate several times to bring the number up.

I think my colors look there best at 5-10 nitrates. The PE is definitely best at those numbers.

I also currently dose 2 drops of Pro Bio S to jump start the bacteria.

If I am having to dose nitrates to get off 0, should I discontinue the Pro Bio S till the numbers raise, or should I leave the dosing the same and just keep feeding more to the fish till nitrates come up??